backstage pass 5-12-05

Springfield gets its first look next week at Rounding Third, a new
comedy by Richard Dresser that played off-Broadway and has been a hit in
theaters around the country. Jason Goodreau and Mac Warren, two
local actors, are responsible for the Springfield production, and
they play the lead roles.

Rounding Third follows
Don, a tough, blue-collar, win-at-all costs veteran Little League
coach, and Michael, a newcomer to the game, from their first
meeting to their climactic championship game.

“I’ve been a coach for many
years,” Goodreau says, “and this show talks about some
of the real challenges one faces. Most importantly, though, it made
me laugh. You’ll watch this show and say, ‘That’s
me,’ or ‘That’s that guy I know.’ ”

Rounding Third is
the first show for ADHD Entertainment Productions, Goodreau and
Warren’s new company. “Both Jason and I have attention
and hyperactivity issues,” says Warren, “but that just
makes this production company stronger. We view ADHD as an
advantage in this case, not a barrier.”

Future plans for the new company include David
Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross and a Jonathan Larson musical, Tick, Tick . . . Boom!

Rounding Third plays
here at 7 p.m. May 20, 21, 27, and 28 in the Club Room at the
Hoogland Center for the Arts. For ticket information, call
217-523-2787.

Among other shows of note:

 The Museum of Funeral Customs continues
to offer innovative theatrical presentations, and one such program
takes place this Saturday, May 14, when John Avery of Manchester,
Mo., portrays a Civil War embalming surgeon. Avery, a licensed
funeral director who dresses in period costume for the re-enactment, will present the
program throughout the day between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. For more
information, call 217-544-3480.

 The Jacksonville Theatre Guild
concludes a run of a wonderful play, The
Boys Next Door, this weekend, May
13-15. Boys
is a comedy/drama about mentally challenged men who live in a group
home. It’s a serious subject, but the play is written with
great sensitivity and respect. It’s also funny and
heartwarming — things we can always use a dose of. The Guild
production is playing at the Sophie Leschin Theatre in Jacksonville
Community Park (by the Ferris wheel). For ticket information, call
217-245-1402.

 Debbie Reynolds comes to town for a
one-show performance at 8 p.m. Friday, May 20, in the Sangamon
Auditorium. Reynolds, a show-business veteran starred in the 1952
classic Singing in the Rain, played the title role in Tammy and the Bachelor (1957),
was nominated for an Academy Award for 1964’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), gave a critically acclaimed performance in the
1996 film Mother with Albert Brooks, and now plays Debra Messing’s
mom in television’s Will &
Grace.

In the 1970s, Reynolds starred on Broadway in
a revival of the 1920s musical Irene. The show became a long-running hit, and Reynolds
toured the country with it. The night I saw the show at the Muny
Opera in St. Louis, it started raining. Before it began raining so
hard that the show had to be stopped, Reynolds, trouper that she
is, decided to sit on a stool out there on the stage, under an
umbrella, and sing songs and tell anecdotes.The audience of 12,000
sat there in the rain! That’s the old “show must go
on” attitude. For tickets to Reynolds’ show, call
217-206-6160.